1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to appliances containing fans, and more particularly to those having downdraft discharge of air located below a motor or bearing, as is typical of residential downdraft evaporative coolers. The fan containing appliance is improved by the present invention by incorporation of a drip catcher in the form of a filter for trapping and retaining oil droplets which may escape the fan motor or shaft bearings over time. In the absence of the filter, oil droplets could be propelled into the space being ventilated or conditioned by the appliance. Any building having a fan utilizing downdraft discharge may benefit from the invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many air moving or conditioning appliances, such as evaporative coolers having downward air discharge generated by powered fans, are burdened with a potential drawback in that if a motor or bearing pillow block leaks oil, the leaking oil will enter the stream of air propelled by the appliance. This oil is susceptible to being blown into fine droplets and widely dispersed by air discharged from the appliance. Such an occurrence could readily contaminate environmental surfaces, architectural finishing materials, and objects contained within the room or living space into which the downdraft current flows.
Air conditioning devices such as evaporative coolers intended to be incorporated into buildings are frequently arranged to direct discharged air downwardly into residential, commercial, and industrial premises. As motorized mechanical equipment wears with use, likelihood of bearing failure increases. It would be desirable to provide a replaceable protective barrier such as a filter which would trap and retain both ordinary airborne contaminants, such as dust, as well as oil droplets entering the stream of discharged air as a consequence of bearing failure, in combination with a diffuser for diffusing the stream of discharged air as it enters the building space being conditioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,936, issued to Wendell J. Lough et al. on Nov. 27, 1979, describes a diffuser incorporating a replaceable filter. However, unlike the present invention, the filter of the diffuser of Lough et al. is vertically oriented, and would not be readily replaced by sliding into place from below without removing or significantly opening the diffuser. By contrast, the filter of the present invention is readily replaceable by sliding horizontally into and out of place. Also, Lough et al. lacks pivotally mounted air directing fins, as seen in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,808,777, issued to Gebhard Max Neumann et al. on May 7, 1974, 4,088,463, issued to Irwin M. Smith on May 9, 1978, and 4,976,757, issued to Martin C. Helmus on Dec. 11, 1990, all describe filters mounted above ceilings of clean rooms. These devices are characterized in that removal of a filter element horizontally from the device in the manner of the present invention is not possible. In a second departure from the present invention, these devices lack diffusers located beneath a horizontally oriented filter, for redirecting discharged air from a vertical, downward direction.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.